Working in the Hyuga Household
by radicalL
Summary: Sakura's parents are going through some financial trouble. Sakura helps out by becoming a maid at the Hyuga residence. NejiSakuSasu NaruHina
1. Maid for Hire

**Disclaimer:** Ummm . . .  I don't own? Yeah, I think that will work.

**Note:** This author is a babbling Looney who spends too much time on the computer. Please forgive her insanity.

**To Anyone That Cares:** This Saturday is my birthday! September 6! I love the fall (all da pretty leaves!) I'll be 13, can you believe it?! Well, you probably can, but I'm still happy. Time flys big time. I remember when I was turning 12! It seemed like yesterday. My mom was right; we do grow up fast 0.o how depressing. But that doesn't matter. In my mind, I'll be 7 forever! Muwyahahahaha!

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            Sweat glistened off of Sakura's forehead as she delivered another blow to Kakashi. He was sent flying and into a tree. His lifeless eyes stared into nothing as her knee made solid contact into his stomach. Then there was an elbow drop from above and he was split in half. Sakura grinned as his insides went everywhere.

            Victory was hers.

            She had just beaten the Kakashi doll.

            Sakura picked up the cloth remains and the cotton stuffing of the doll and headed back to where her teammates were. Naruto was hanging from a tree doing stomach crunches. Sakura watched as he slowly brought his head up to his stomach with a grunt. He was red in the face. Sakura heard him mutter "238 . . . 239 . . . 240 . . ."

            "Wow," Sakura whispered to herself. "Naruto is pretty tough."

            Sakura looked around for Sasuke. She finally found him doing push ups with only his left hand. He had no shirt on. Sweat dripped off his incredibly muscular body. Sakura had to turn to prevent him from seeing her turn crimson. What was she thinking? She was way too old to still be blushing around him.

            With a final grunt, Naruto put his arms around the branch and unwrapped his legs from the branch, letting him fall safely to the ground. He walked up to Sakura and gazed down at the completely annihilated Kakashi toy.

            "Wow, you sure did a number on that thing," he grinned, giving her a thumbs up.

            "I know. Sorry, that it's all beat up and stuff. You told me that it was new," Sakura said.

            "It's ok. I go through atleast 2 of these a week," he reassured her with a fox like grin.

            "Hey Naruto, Sasuke-kun, I have to go now. My parents told me that we had to have an urgent meeting," Sakura told them. She wasn't sure if Sasuke was listening to her or not.

            Naruto frowned. "Is it a family emergency?" he sounded worried.

            "I don't know, but they didn't sound too happy. It sounded serious," Sakura explained.

            "Ok then. See you around, Sakura-chan," Naruto waved goodbye.

            He watched her walk past the horizon. It was close to dinnertime already. Sakura was lucky to have a family to eat dinner with. But in a way, she was part of his family, like an adopted sister. He knew that his love for her wasn't in a sister kind of way, but as a loverly way. Naruto sighed a smiled as he watched that girl.

            "I love Sakura-chan," Naruto said quietly. "Don't you, Sasuke?" he asked the dark haired boy who was doing push-ups.

            "No," he stated flatly.

            "Yeah, right," Naruto said sarcastically. "If you don't get her soon, someone else will come and take her. Like me for example . . ." he trailed off. He was in his own La-la land now, imagining sweet images of them together.

            _'Baka-yarro. I don't "love" anything. Sakura will never be taken by anyone.'_ Sasuke thought. ((RL: do we sense some hostility, Sasu-chan?))

--

            Sakura pushed open the front door. Her nose was greeted with the delicious smell of meat cooking. She entered the kitchen and saw a middle-aged women with pink hair. She was cooking small meat strips in a frying pan. She turned them over every now and then and prodded them with a spatula.

            "Konichiwa Oka-san," Sakura smiled at her mother.

            Her mom, however, was silent. She stared into the pan and turned another meet strip over on its side. She was paler than usual, like she was that morning. She refused to make eye contact with the girl. It was as if she was having trouble saying something and was ashamed of it.

            Finally, the older women broke the silence. "Sakura, go help your Oto-san set the table," she said blandly.

            "Um, ok," Sakura began to worry. What was up with her mom?

            Sakura pulled out three pairs of chopsticks from the drawer than held the silverware and placed one pair at next to each of the little food mats on the table. She went to get drinks when she bumped into a taller man with blond hair and eyes the color of spring grass.

            "Oi Oto-san," Sakura said, looking hopefully up at her dad.

            "Hm? Oh, er . . . oi Sakura," he seemed distracted by something. Whatever had her mom nervous was making him too. "Go sit down. I'll get the drinks."

            Sakura pulled out a chair and sat down. She sifted uneasily in her seat. Something was wrong. What was it? A death in the family? Or was her mom, gasp, _pregnant?!_ No, no, no, that was not the case. Her mom was too old. Sakura herself was sixteen, almost seventeen. So she knew that wasn't the case.

            The rest of her family sat down. They snapped their chopsticks and ate in silence. Her mom had made her favorite dish, pickled sour plums with fruit salad and dumplings. It was a rare occasion, so she cherished the delicious flavor. However, she could help but feel that the meal was like a sign of apology, since they didn't eat it often because her dad hated the taste of pickled plums. ((RL: I don't blame the man, it sounds awful. But I'll give it a try one-day.))

            Her mother laid her chopsticks down beside her half-finished plate. She did some little signal with her eyes to Sakura's father and he did the same. Sakura slipped lightly on her tea. Sakura had a sinking feeling that her life as she knew it would come to a screeching halt and start all over again in a new direction, much to her dismay.

            "You might want to put that down, Sakura," her mom motioned with her hands for Sakura to put the tiny teacup down. She did as told and set it down carefully, watching the brownish green liquid swirl slightly in its beautifully designed container.

            There was an uncomfortable pause before the pink haired woman continued. "Yesterday your father and I lost our jobs at the plante. The whole building was shut down and won't be back up until the end of Christmas this year. That is _six months from now. Do you see what I'm getting at Sakura?" she calmly explained to her daughter. Sakura just starred at them. She had no clue what they were talking about._

            "No." her mother sighed and laced her fingers together as if she was praying.

            "Sakura, this is June. _All of the bills come in June and we just lost our jobs. All of our money is gone, except for the money we need for food. There are no openings for regular jobs. Your father has decided to work as a waiter and I'm going to be a gardener. But even with money we make then won't equal up to the minimum we need to pay off our bills. We need you . . . to get a job."_

            Sakura's mouth dropped open. She was already bringing in money that she earned as a Chuunin, and her parents always took what she made. Wasn't that enough? What other job could she do?

            "You've got to be kidding me. Please tell me you are joking," Sakura said in dissbelief.

            "This isn't a joke Sakura! Your father and I are financially screwed as of today and we need your help!" Her mother screamed. She rose from the table and glared Sakura in the eye.

            "But what can I do?! I already bring in about 23,000 yen a week! And you always take it! I never get to spend my own money. What more do you want?!" Sakura yelled back at her mom.

            "Get a job. I don't care how you do it, just get a self-respecting job that doesn't involve strip dancing or drug dealing!" Her mom was up in her face now. Literally, they had their noses pressed to each other. They went cross eyed due to how near they were to each other.

            "But I'm only good at house work!" Sakura sat down with a huff and crossed her arms defiantly.

            Her mother leaned forward and said in a hoarse unnatural voice, "You know . . . you can always become a maid."

--

            Sakura screamed into her pillow as she flopped down on her bed. She started pounding down on the mattress and kicked her face. A maid? How was serving other people for money self-respecting? There was no way she would become a maid, wear a stupid uniform, and call some person 'sir.' No way.

            Tears slowly dripped off her face and onto the pillow. It was no fair. It was her parents fault that they were in this mess. They didn't make much but didn't mind spending too much money on things they didn't need. They took all her money to help pay off bills. But it didn't matter what she brought home, they still had problems. Some of them were severe enough to declare bankruptcy.

            "Its not fair!" Sakura screamed into her pillow again. "How dare they! They can't do this! They-"

            A knock on the door stopped her unheard ranting. Sakura sniffed and whipped her tears away. She managed to get out a soft "come in." Her mom entered the room.

            "Honey?" No answer. The plump little lady sat down on the bed next to Sakura. She smoothed out the sheets a bit and leaned over Sakura.

            "Sakura darling, I'm sorry for this. I really am. But your father and I really need your help. If you find the right person to work for, then you can make plenty of money. You won't be supporting us alone because your father and I will be working too. Please do this for us Sakura," her mom pleaded. It was an unusual sight to see a parent asking their daughter for financial help, but it was happening to her. It made Sakura feel uneasy.

            "Ok," Sakura agreed.

            Her mom wrapped her arms around her daughter's neck and hugged her tightly. "Thank you Saku-chan!"

            "Yeah . . . no problem."

--

            It was a kite flyer's dream that day. Ice cold winds rushing in from the north and blowing strong. People were wearing long jackets to keep the cold from seeping in. Like that helped any. Sakura most have been wearing five different layers of clothes and she still felt the wind's chill. This is why she was glad for fall because the sudden drop of temperature was shocking to her body. The summer's heat had been extreme that year and she was used to frying in the sun. Today, however, there was grey storm clouds gathering in the sky and the temperature was dropping quickly.

            Sakura shuddered as another gust of wind somehow found its way through the muti layers of fabric. She ran her hand over a few planks of the smooth wooden fence separating the road from a private lane. She grasped her hand painted sign in her both hands and gazed at it with a loathing glare. She wished she had an axe, because then she could scream bloody murder and charge at the awful thing at full speed and chop it to splitters. Sakura pushed the stake into the sandy rain deprived soil. It went in as smooth as glass. Unfortunately the soil was so loose that the sign sunk and started to stand at an angle.

            Sakura growled and flung it out of the ground. She swore at it, kicked it, and ordered it to stand up straight. But as you and I know, stupid billboards will never listen to what you have to say. Sakura picked it up once more and jammed it hard into the dirt. The ground made a satisfying squish sound and Sakura made a little victory sign. Now the sign had no where to go.

            Suddenly a gust of wind came sweeping down on her. Sakura had to grab onto the nearest tree to stop her from loosing her footing. The gale pressed hard against her sign and pushing it into the air. Sakura shouted at it to stop, but as luck turns out, wind won't listen to you either. The sign went flying over the fence and far beyond her reach.

            The wind stopped and Sakura few to her knees, angry and confused. Where the hells did it go? Sakura's eyebrow twitch. Something snapped inside of her.

            "WHAT THE HELL?! DAMN YOU! I SPEND 5 HOURS ON THAT SIGN!" she screeched.

            Then a thought hit Sakura. A deviously evil thought. Hey, no sign, no work! Sakura smiled and walked home. _All that frustration for nothing. She thought._

--

            Sakura walked into the kitchen where her mom was washing dishes.

            "Hey Saku-chan! Did you take care of the ad?" she ask.

            "Oh yeah," she answered back as she collapsed down on the sofa in the living room. "Its done."

            "Now all we have left to do is wait for a call!" Her mother said cheerfully. ((RL: don't kill me for that. The story plot requires SOME modern technology in it for this.))

            "Yep. We'll just wait here," Sakura said with a mischievous little grin her mom didn't see.

-- 

            Neji was walking home from training. He took the private lane to his house. He was almost to the front gate when something smacked him from behind. He was knocked to the ground by the force of the flying object.

            Neji spat out dirt and recovered quickly, prepared to attack the thing that dared push him down. He pulled out a kunai and got in a pose to kill it.

            You must imagine his embarrassment when he found out that it was merely a poster.

            Neji gritted his teeth and picked the sign up and place it on his shoulder. He continued to walk home.

            When he got in, his mother was waiting for him. She gasped when she saw him. "Neji, your head it bleeding! What happened?"

            "I got hit with a billboard," Neji grumbled and threw the ad down on the couch.

            His mother looked down on the square shaped object Neji had laid down. "This is an add for a maid!" she exclaimer. "We could use someone to help around here!"

            "You've got to be kidding me," Neji rolled his eyes.

            "Yes!" she giggled and picked up the phone and dialed the number. Neji groaned and went into the bathroom to bandage the back of his head.

--

            The phone rang in the Haruno residence. Sakura picked it up off the counter and talked into the speaker. "Hello?"

            "Is this Haruno Sakura? I would like to hire you as a maid."

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Hello peeps! I hope you liked this! Next chapter Sakura goes to the Hyuuga residence and finds out how much of a pain Neji is. 3 There will be mayhem and madness. Sakura should prepare to take allot of Ibprophen.

Remember to review!


	2. The Hiring

**Disclaimer:** me no own. I know this fan fiction. This has nothing to do with Naruto, blah, blah, blah.

**Random talk:** Wow xo! Thirty reviews in one chapter! Thanks guys! Love you all.

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            Sakura dropped the phone. It clattered against the floor. Sakura was in shock. Didn't the sign fly off to somewhere safe where nobody would find it? Obviously not.

            Her mom stepped into the room to see what the sound was. She saw Sakura starring blankly at the wall, sitting stiffly with her fingers fanned out. Sakura must have released the phone by accident. Her mom picked it off the floor and brought it up to her ear.

            "Hello? Oh, hi! Yes, that was ours. No, it wasn't me. It was my daughter. Uh-huh. She was the one who put the poster up. She'd love to! Ok. Uh-huh, bye-bye!" her mother said cheerfully into the phone.

            "Wow, someone is looking to hire you already! I'm happy that your deciding to help pay off the bills Saku-chan!" her mother smiled.

            "I didn't want to! You and Oto-san made me! I had no say in thi-"

            "SAKURA-CHAN!" her mom snapped, giving her an evil glare. Sakura sighed and leaned back into the house.

            "You go apply for the job tomorrow. They'll ask you a few questions about yourself, see what time you can come in, and stuff like that. And please Sakura . . . don't mess this up. Do it for . . . the family," her mom said as she left the living room.

            Sakura pressed her back harder into the sofa and hugged a pillow close her herself. "Yeah . . . for the family."

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            Sakura couldn't help but stare. It was so remarkable. So unreal. She hadn't seen anything like it! It was huge, ornate, and such a marvel. Drool was starting to drip from her mouth as she gawked at it.

            Holy cheese-cake was that mansion big!

            One of the gate guards coughed and Sakura realized that they were giving her funny looks. She blushed and wiped a string of spit away from the corner of her lip. She pressed the intercom button with her slender green-painted-nail finger. A fuzzy voice came out the little micro phone. Sakura bent down to speak into it.

            "Umm, hello. I'm Haruno Sakura and I'm here for the maid interview," her voice shook a bit. She couldn't believe she was actually doing this.

            A loud clanking came from within the stone wall and the Iron Gate slid away quickly. Sakura had to move her face or otherwise the moving bars would have smacked into her nose. The guards from the watch towers motioned for her to walk through. It was a long walk from there to the mansion.

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            Sakura gasped when she came in. She felt as if she was in a palace of some kind. Every wall was decorated with pictures, weapons, or ornamental wall designs. It was styled in tradition Japan architecture. There was a very detailed dragon was about twenty feet long that covered about half the wall. She could see in the main hall there was a large chandelier. Crystals hung from it in the shape of tear drops.

            "Hello, hello! You must be Haruno-san! Please come in!" a cheery voice met her ears. Sakura tugged off her ninja sandals and slipped into a pair of cozy pink slippers. They felt like heaven for her feet.

            A slim woman stepped into the walkway. She greeted Sakura with open arms, dragging her into what looked like a dinning room. She sat Sakura down on one side of the very long table and she walked around the room to sit on the other side, facing Sakura. She placed a large stack of papers to Sakura's left.

            Through all of this, Sakura had no idea what was going on. Her head was aching because things were going to fast for her mind to grasp.

            "Uh . . . um . . . errr . . ." Sakura fumbled with her words. The lady looked up.

            "Yes, miss?"

            "Who . . . are you?" Sakura blurted out. The tips of her ears became red when she realized how rude she sounded.

            The lady laughed and put down her fountain pin. "Ah, yes, I do need to introduce myself. I'm Hyuga Mariko. I'm the one who called your house after I found the billboard you put up! I am the wife of the leader of the Hyuga Branch family," she explained with a giggle.

            "But why aren't your eyes . . ."

            "Oh! Why my eyes aren't white?" she said, pointing to one of her dark chocolate brown eyes. "I am only a Hyuga by marriage of Hizashi. But unfortunately . . . he's no longer with us," she said the last part sorrowfully. Sakura suddenly felt a jab at her heart, knowing what she meant.

            "Oh. I'm sorry I was so rude. It's just that, well, I was wondering who you were and . . ."

            "That's ok, Miss. Everyone wants to know why my eyes aren't white like the rest of the Hyugas," she said. "Stand up so I can see you better, ok Miss?"

            Sakura did as she was told. Marino looked her up and down, studying her clothes. Every now and then, Marino would write something down on a piece of paper. She made Sakura nervous.

            "Miss, your clothing tells me that you are a ninja. May I ask what team your on?" the lady asked, flicking a stray piece of raven hair away from her face.

            "Team seven, Hyuga-san," Sakura said and sat back down again.

            The lady once again wrote something down on her sheet. The pen moved swiftly across. Sakura could feel herself sweating.

            "Ok, I got a little schedule worked out. How about you work here on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and every other Saturday? We're very flexible with time, so this can be changed at almost anytime. You just have to work at least 3 times a week, unless it's the every other week where you work 4 times. If you miss one day, you can make it up sometime later. I know that since you are a ninja that you are very busy. I just want to make things easy for you," she smiled. Sakura felt relieved that she was working with such a nice lady.

            "That sounds fine, Hyuga-san!" Sakura chirped. ((Though inwardly we all know she doesn't want to work.))

            Mrs. Hyuga beamed. "Neeeeejiiii! Come down and meet our new maid!" she hollered.

            Upstairs, something tripped and slowly paced down the stairs. Suddenly, Neji appeared at the door of the dining room. The first thing Sakura saw was his eyes . . . because they were piercing right into hers.

            "Neji, meet Haruno Sakura-san. Haruno-san, this is my son, Neji. In fact, Sakura, it was Neji who found your sign for me!" Marino said, gesturing back and forth between the two.

            " . . . I already know her. She's on the same team of Naruto," Neji spat.

            "Really? Well I'm sure you and Sakura will get along nicely, seeing that you and Naruto are such good friends!" Marino said happily. Sakura sighed. Mrs. Hyuga had know clue how much Neji disliked Naruto.

            "Yeah . . . whatever," Neji turned to leave. 

"Wait, Neji!" Mrs. Hyuga called. Neji flinched.

"What?"

            "Show Sakura around, please? She'll be working tomorrow, so she needs to know her way around."

            "Okay," he said flatly.

            Neji's mother handed him a list. He looked it over and frowned, but didn't say anything. He watched his mother leave. The door closed softly behind her.

            "Neji-san?" Sakura asked, tapping him on the shoulder. He glared down at her with those cold eyes that made her shudder.

            "What do _you_ want?"

            "How did you find my poster?" she questioned. She wasn't planning on telling him why it had gotten away from her.

            " . . . It smacked me in the head."

            "Oh," Sakura said sadly. However, Inner Sakura was screaming 'Nya, nya, nya! What kind of loser getting hit on the head with a sign?!'

            "The list says you have to clean the main hall's chandelier twice a week and  . . ."

            "_That chandelier?" Sakura gasped._

            Neji glared at her. "I guess it would be, because it is the only one in our house."

            "But twice a week? That thing is huge!"

            ". . . So?"

            Sakura's jaw flew open. Neji was colder than she thought! What kind of jerk just said "so?" to a lady such as herself?

            "It also says you have to clean the west wing. It's over there. Clean it _all. I want it spotless," he demanded. "That includes washing the windows from the outside-in and dusting the corners of the walls were spiders go," he said, handing the list over to Sakura._

            Half of the things Neji wanted weren't on the list. But cleaning the west wing and the chandelier twice a week was. Sakura groaned.

            Her weekly chores would be:

1: wash windows every two weeks, unless needing to be washed before then. (Please dust first and then wash gently with ammonia.)

2: dust furniture.

3: Draw all drapes at noon.

4:  Clean the bathrooms.

5: Wash/iron/put away requested clothing.

6: Make meals/wash dishes

7: other assignments will be given at random.

            "Oh boy," Sakura said. "This is going to be one hell of six months!"

            Neji poked his head back into the room. "Hey, you! Quit talking to yourself and pick up your maid outfit!"

            Indeed, this was going to be one hell of six months!

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Yo people! Sorry this took so long. I'm going to be slow with updates for awhile until my life goes back to normal (whatever that is.) Sorry that I didn't bring up any of Sakura's chores yet. I needed to get this chapter done really bad! Promise there will be more. 

BTW: Don't expect there to be any Saku/Neji moments just yet. I'm not going to rush it. Remember, Sakura has half a year to fall in love with Neji and vice versa. Sasuke's gonna be thrown in here too.

Yes, I plan for Sakura and Hinata to be friends. I won't say anymore about it, but trust is inata has a huge role in Sakura's new life.

Many surprises ahead! Beware. You'll be shocked with some of the stuff I have for you.


	3. Underwear

**Disclaimer:** Naruto isn't mine! Neither is Neji or Sasuke, no matter how much I wish they were!

**Koge-pan1:** ah, yeah I changed the rating. I was planning to have allot of swearing in stuff through out the fic but I figured it would be better just to rate it PG because basically all the chapters are that rating.

**Note:** Words in italics are thought. **_[Words like this are Inner Sakura!]_**

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**Chapter 3**

**Underwear**

            Sakura couldn't quite figure out what the object Neji held out in front of her was. Was it an ugly certain he wanting her to clean? Part of a ripped up rug? The possibilities where endless.

            Actually, Sakura knew exactly what it was, but she asked Neji anyway.

            "What the hell is that?" she pointed at the hideous thing.

            "It's your uniform," he answered and shoved it in her arms.

            "What?! You want me to wear _that_ thing?" She fought the need to scream at the grimacing boy.

            "You're the one who applied to the job. If you don't like it then quit."

            Sakura frowned. This guy was good at coming up with smart comebacks. He left hers in the dust.

            "Once you change you can get to work."

            "Now?"

            "Sometime this year," he said. Sakura's face turned red. Neji finally understood what was going on inside her head.

            "Not in here, idiot. In the bathroom. It's over there," he pushed Sakura in inside the bathroom and closed the door quickly behind her.

            Sakura huffed and turned the lock on the door. She was satisfied when she heard a click. She did not feel comfortable changing in another person's house, especially if there was a boy living there. Sakura's first impression of Neji wasn't good and he didn't exactly give off the impression he was the "clean" type. For all Sakura knew, he could a mega-perv with a porn collection that was so big, it towered over her head.

            She then examined her uniform. It wasn't as unattractive as she imagined it was back when Neji handed it to her. In fact, she thought she would look very cute in it. It was a light grey color and it had white sleeve cuffs that were pinned down by tiny delicate buttons. A snow colored apron came with it. Around the neck was a white collar that had intricate and elaborate designs of wavy lines. In the center of the designs of a big, red, silken bow. Sakura's fingers fondled the smooth fabric.

            _'It's so soft! Wow, this dress must have been hand made. But who made it? Hyuga-san?'_

            A soft knock was heard on the door. Then a quiet, "Sakura-san?" Sakura cracked the door open. Hinata stood outside.

            "Oh, Hello Hinata. I was just about to change. Is there anything you want?" Sakura was already acting maidly.

            "Um, I-I just came to bring your other uniform," Hinata held up a different out fit. It looked almost like a Japanese Miko* outfit, except the sleeves weren't as long. Other than that, it was all stereotypical: white long-sleeved top and red pants.

            ((*Miko= Japanese priestess. I think you all know that already XD))

            "Why? I already have an outfit. Why another one?" Sakura asked, taking the garment from Hinata's hands.

            "B-because you would need another outfit to wear when you come to work when you're washing you're uniform," Hinata looked to the side shyly, not making eye contact with Sakura. "And if we have special guests over, you might have to wear a certain outfit. I hope that is ok with you."

              
            Inner Sakura raised an eyebrow. **[_Huh? What's with this girl?]_**__

__

**            "**That's okay Hinata! Really! I like both of these outfits very much. Thank you," Sakura grinned. 

            Hinata smiled and bowed. Sakura bowed back. Maybe working as a maid wouldn't be so bad, as long as she didn't have to put up with Hinata.

            "Hinata, would your room just happen to be in the West Wing?" Sakura asked, sounding hopeful.

            "Y-yes. It is. Is that were you clean?" Hinata looked down at her toes.

            "It is! Oh, I'm so glad. That means I won't have to seen Neji all the time. He's your cousin right?" Sakura sang merrily and started to do a short victory dance.

            "Yes, he's my cousin. But Sakura . . ."

            "Huh?" Sakura stopped victory dancing.

            "Neji . . . his room is in the West Wing too."

             . . .

            " . . . You're kidding."

            "No. I'm sorry."

            Sakura sulked. She buried her face in her hands.

            "Gomen nasai Sakura! I didn't know you didn't like Neji. I know he's a bit cold but he's really okay," Hinata tried to comfort Sakura.

            "Well, you know what they say Hinata," Hinata looked confused. "When life gives you lemons, eat your damn lemons!"

            Hinata stood back. She hadn't expected that. But slowly, she began to smile.

            "Yes . . . eat your lemons," she giggled.

            They laughed for a few minutes. Neji could hear them all the way down the hall. He couldn't imagine what could be so funny.

            What he wouldn't give for ear plugs . . .

--

            Sakura finally pulled on her western style maid outfit. It hardly fit around her stomach. She found that she could only take lesser breaths than usual. It was difficult to bend down. She knew, she checked.

            _'Ooooooh, ooooooh, oooh! Ouch! Did they just guess my measurements?' Sakura thought as she bent down._

            Sakura straighten herself back up again and check how she looked in the bathroom mirror. The dress came just below the end of her thighs. The sleeves followed the contours of her arms and the front wrapped closely around her belly. She was grateful that the actually dress part didn't cling to her or otherwise she wouldn't be able to move much, and that would just about kill her cleaning career.

            Sakura then tied the apron around her waist. The hem was curved in the shape of an oval and a fist sized Konoha leave mark was stitched at the end.

            Other than the fact that it was too tight in the place she least wanted it to be, she liked her uniform. It wasn't a lame as it could have been and wasn't skimpy or pervy at all, except it really emphasized her bust a little, but she was sure she could bat the hentais away.

            A loud rapping on the door brought Sakura back to her senses.

            "Are you done yet? Geesh, what is with girls taking forever to change? The house won't clean itself!" Neji said cruelly through the door.

            Sakura groaned. "Coming!" and she stepped out of the door.

            Sakura twirled a bit as if asking Neji "what'cha think?" but he supposedly didn't notice. Instead, he gave her the load down on what needed to be done.

            "First off you need to wash, dry, and iron the clothes in the laundry room. If you burn a hole through my cloths you're gonna pay so you better watch it with the ironing. Then you need to clean the windows out in the foyer and living room. Next . . . pick up around the house, got that?" he explained slowly as if she was stupid and couldn't understand a word dribbling out over his lips.

            "Sure, whatever Neji," Sakura turned to leave for the laundry room but a cold hand on her shoulder stopped her.

            "What?" she asked, facing Neji.

            "Don't call me that. In this house, you will address me as Neji-sama. I am your boss. You are working for my family and I now and you will call us by proper names," his eyes pierced hers with sharp glares.

            Sakura was going to swear at Neji. Maybe even kick him were it counted. But visions of her mother and father drifted through her head. If she messed this up . . . if she lost her job . . . how could they pay the bills? They would lose their house and possibly live on the streets. Sakura gave in to Neji.

            "I'm sorry Neji-sama . . . I messed up. It won't happen again," Sakura said flatly. She gazed down at the floor, refusing to look at Neji. In truth, she wanted to spit on him, but she had to help out her family, no matter what crap he put her through.

            Neji stared down at her, taking in the feel that he had won. He had broken in another maid. He gave a contented smirk and started to leave Sakura, who was still peering down at nothing.

            "Wait, Neji-er, sama! Where is the laundry room?" Sakura asked quickly before he turned the corner.

            "Go back out of this hall and turn right. It's the second door to the left," he answered without stopping.

            "Oh . . ."

--

            _'Ack! Stupid Neji! Who does he think he is? "No! Call me Neji-sama! You work for me now" ah-phooey. That jerk! I hope he dies and his corpse rots in the ground! **[Hell yeah!] **Sakura raved inside her head._

            _Just give me string- no; dental floss and I'll strangle that guy! I don't care want I use! Shoe strings, rope, or fishing line. I'M GONNA KILL THAT GUY!_

Sakura rummaged threw the dried clothes and such. She pulled out a fluffy yellow towel and examined it. What had her mother always done with towels? Sakura tried to think back to the days when she had helped her mother do laundry.

            Sakura began to play her mental movie. It was a lovely addition to her mind, like Inner Sakura, and allowed her to remember far back. Images came up clean and precise. Mental movies were also good for imagining boys -maybe such as Sasuke-kun- without shirts on or clad little blue Speedos, but who was she going to tell?

            "Ah-ha! That's what she did!" Sakura said out loud to nobody. Sakura matched the long sides of the towel together then folded it in the middle once and then again. She laid it in the basket next to her feet. "Perfect!" she chirped, eyeing her work with pride.

            Sakura dug in the pile again. "Let's see . . ."Sakura's tongue stuck out in a corner of her mouth. She was concentrating on finding fabric that felt right. "And the mystery item is . . . !" Sakura jerked the thing up from the depths of the cloths heap. Sakura's face fell quickly and her eyes became round a white.

            She was holding up a pair of smiley face Joe-Boxer underwear.

            To be more precise, they were boxers.

            _'Oh God, oh God, oh god! Underwear! ARGH!'_

Sakura began to panic. Her eyes darted around the room nervously.

            _'Whose are these? What if they're Mr. Hyuga's? WHAT IF THEIR NEJI'S?! **NOOOOOO!**'_

Sakura's body began to twitch.

            _'What to do? What to do? What to do?'_

--

            Neji wondered the halls. He looked at the windows. They were spotless.

            _'Looks like she's doing her job well.' Neji grinned. He passed by the laundry room door. He suddenly came to a halt._

            Anxious vibes seemed to be cooped up inside that room. Neji could feel it even outside. He's fingers slowly slid across from one side of the door to the next.

            _'What's going on in there?'_

Neji's hands twisted around the door knob. He turned it. Sakura had her back to him. She immediately turned her head.

            "O-oh, h-hello there Ne-nej-S-sama! W-what are y-you doing h-here?" Sakura asked shakily.

            "You stutter more than Hinata-sama," he commented slyly. He noticed Sakura had something in front of her that she wasn't showing him. "What are you hiding?"

            "Nothing Neji-sama. I-I-I wouldn't hide a-a thing!"

            "Is that so?" He raised an eyebrow. Sakura gulped. Sweat started to pour out from her forehead. She hoped Neji didn't notice. "Well in that case, I'm leaving."

            "Y-you do that N-Neji-sama!" Sakura faked her smile.

            Sakura blinked. Neji was gone. Was he that quick to exist a room? She sighed in relief.

            Suddenly a pair of hands wrapped around her waist. Sakura screamed, but was quickly silenced as one familiar cold hand pressed over her mouth. She relaxed when it released her.

            "Neji . . . sama," Sakura glowered.

            "I want to know what you have in you hands," he smiled cruelly.

            "Trust me, you don't want to see it," Sakura huffed.

            "Let's just see about that . . ." He pried the mystery thing out of Sakura's hands and brought it up to his face.

            "What the hell?" he looked at the boxers, confused. "Where did you get this?"

            "Yeah . . . sorry about that. I found it in the cloths pile," Sakura said sadly.

            **[Told you so!]**

            Neji covered his face with his free hand. He looked embarrassed in that stance. Sakura could swear she saw red creep up on his mug.

            "Hey Neji-sama. It's not like it was you're underwear, right?" Sakura said. She hated the dull mood. She wanted to liven it up with reassurance.

            Neji stared at her, becoming redder by the second. The truth was so clearly written on his face. Sakura finally registered what was happening.

            "Oh . . . my . . . god! Neji-sama that was your underwear?" She giggled.

            "Don't you _dare tell anyone!" he spat. "You do and you're as good as fired," he said as Sakura went into a hysterical fit of laughter._

            "Don't worry Neji-sama! I'm sure lots of guys have . . . smiley face boxers," Sakura said, trying to keep her chuckles under control. Neji growled. Sakura could see he didn't trust her.

            "Really Neji-sama. I won't tell anyone. I promise," she held out her pinky as a compromise.

            "Whatever," he leered, not taking her pinky. He quickly gained back his cool attitude and left, slamming the door as he went.

--

            Sakura picked up the last thing she could find on the floor of the West Wing. The Hyuga house was surprisingly clean. Some places you could practically eat off of. The only problem was that there was allot of _dust everywhere. Sakura knew that both Hyuga families (both main and branch) lived together in one big building and that they all spent allot of time training outside._

            And when they came _inside_ they brought dirt and sweat with them.

            Sakura sighed and suddenly became grateful that most of the rooms had hard wood floors. All she had to do was sweep around instead of lugging a heavy vacuum around.

            Sakura saw a little girl walk past her. She was younger than her and looked to be around 11 or so. She had a hard but virtuous look in her eyes.

            "Excuse me, little girl . . ." Sakura fallowed after her. The girl stopped.

            "You're the new maid, aren't you?" the girl asked before Sakura could get a word out.

            "Ah, yes I am. Could you please-"

            "I'm Hanabi. I'm Hinata's younger sister. You're Haruno Sakura, right?" she was popping out questions to fast for Sakura to understand.

            "Uh, yeah. Listen, I need to find the-"

            "You're a ninja too, right?" she interrupted for the third time.

            "Yes! Yes, I am. Now will you please tell me where you might keep the broom? I need to sweep," she finally said.

            Hanabi studied Sakura's face. Sakura remember her teacher's words about the Hyuga eyes; they were so much more insightful than anyone else's. Sakura was sure that was correct now, because this girl did seem to have an air of wisdom around her. They were like Hinata's accept more confident.

            "It's right over there. Let me show you . . ." Hanabi brought Sakura over the broom closet.

            "Thanks Hanabi," Sakura beamed. She managed to get a small smile of the younger girl.

            "You're welcome."

--

            Sakura changed out of her maid outfit. She was glad to be wearing her normal and better fitting cloths again. She breathed in loudly. No more shorten breathes!

            Sakura pulled her shoes back on and departed the building. Just halfway down the path to the gate she turned and saw Neji glaring daggers at her from a window. Sakura grinned deviously.

            "Don't tell anyone," he mouthed.

            "I won't . . . Neji-chan!" she mouthed back. She stuck out her tongue at him playfully. Neji replied with a similar gesture of sliding his finger across his neck as if to mean chopping off her head.

            **[Outside the house, I don't have to call you "Neji-sama."]**

--

            Sakura rushed home a hid the maid clothing under her bed. If by any chance Naruto or someone she knew stopped by the house and saw the uniforms, she would just _die. Especially if it was Sasuke. What would he think of her then? She had to find out._

            Sakura left the house once again. She was late for training.

--

            "Sorry I'm late!" Sakura called from down the street. Sasuke and Naruto turned. Kakashi was with them.

            "For a change, Sakura-kun, you are later than me," Kakashi said thoughtfully.

            "Well, miracles do happen I suppose," she put a hand behind her head.

            "We seriously thought you wouldn't come today Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried. "Are you sick or something?"

            "No, I just got . . . side-tracked, that's all," she lied. Everyone nodded, seeming    to believe her.

            "Must have been interesting if you are this late. What did you find?" Kakashi leaned in closer and added in a whisper, "Another volume of Come Come Paradise?"

            Sakura's face flushed. "No! That's not it, Sensei. Really."

            **[You damn pervert!]**

The Jounin laughed. "Alright then. Well, I suppose I should tell you that we are just training today. Nothing special. Now, get to work my fine ninja friends," he vanished in a puff of smoke.

            The other two went off in their separate directions in the forest, leaving Sakura in her own little area. She fallowed after Sasuke. She found him practicing seals and burning tree stumps to ashes.

            "Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked. He stopped and faced her.

            "Hm?"

            "I really need to talk to you about something. I know it may not seem important to you but I _have_ to ask you," Sakura breathed.

            Sasuke stood his ground. Sakura sounded serious. He decided he was willing to talk to her.

            "Tell me what the matter is," he said with some caring emotion in his voice. Not the amount that Sakura was hoping for but she could deal with it.

            "You know how allot of girls like you? Well I have this friend you see, and I can't really tell you who it is because you might start to think little of her," she paused and looked at Sasuke for a reaction. He hardly expressed any emotion.

            Sakura continued on. "And her parents are having a really hard time now-a-day's with money and stuff, so she had to get a job . . . as a maid. D-do you think that is a degrading job for someone? Serving others? Because she really likes you, you know?" Sakura look her chances and added on to her statement. "She would do anything for you."

            There was silence between them for a long time. Sasuke didn't move. He didn't blink. But behind his eyes, Sakura could tell he was thinking. Sasuke was getting easier to read. Not saying that it was a simple task or anything. That wasn't the case. Sakura and Sasuke just knew each other better.

            "Why . . . are you telling me this?" Sasuke asked.

            "Because. I need to know," Sakura sighed.

            "Ok," he sat down next to her on a large tree stump.

            "Chances are that I already think very little of your friend already. I don't really care about crushes or silly girl fantasies. But serving others is like being a puppet. You have no control over what you want to do. In short, I would despise who ever you're talking about. I don't want to have anything to do with them."

            "Oh," she said sadly. Sasuke gave her a quizzical look, but said nothing. "I'll just leave you alone now," Sakura headed back to her own training area.

--

            His words played over in her head. Sasuke would hate her. She would be the same as dirt. He would always see her as a puppet if he knew.

            Sakura felt her heart breaking. She would have to lie to them. If one word got out on the streets, it would be all over for her.

            Sakura promised, she would never tell anyone about her being a maid.

            She would have to silence the Hyuga's too.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Wow~! That took a long time to write. Sorry for the slow updates and everything. For about a month and a half (something like that. I dunno. I don't keep track XD) I was coming up a plot with Vivian for a new SakuNeji fic. It's called **White Christmas** and its on oOoshortayoOo's account. We're co-writing it together ~^. ^~. It took allot of compromise and give and take but it was done. We got the first chapter up. Check it out!!! Be sure also, to check out Vivian's first fic **"A Shinobi's Smile" I think you'll like it.   : )  much.**

So I think my next update for my stories will by **Dirty Tricks. I want to get that finished before I start posting up more chapters of ****Love Song Unsung. So I think you can look forward to that. But be warned it might not happen. I'm kind of a random person, lol.**

As for Neji's character in this fic, I sort of want him to tease Sakura. He's gonna put Sakura through allot of hell, as you can tell. More emotionally than anything else. How many of you guys think she'll fall for Neji in the end? Ha, I know the answer but you'll just have to wait and see! XD Trust me folks, it going to be a long fic. This is what, the third chapter and it's only the first day?

Pay attention, everyone! The chandelier is going to be an important part of Sakura's life. Also, there will be a short Hanabi story arc. Just wait and see.

Can Sakura keep Sasuke from finding out? Hmmmm . . .

**Note:** does anyone want to know what inspired Working in the Hyuga Household? It was a picture I found through the msn search engine. I was looking for NejiSaku or Sakuenji and I found this. Its all in Japanese an I can't read it (wish I could) and its basically a fic (I think) with a pic attached. Here is the link:


	4. Hiatus!

**Hiatus!!!**

****

Hi people!

            Wow, my first author note for this story! -.-' That's not good. I was aiming for no author notes at all.

This story will be on a hiatus for awhile. The reason being because I have taken on to many writing projects and I have to balance it all. I also have a Lang Arts assignment due this Thursday and I had to completely scrap the story I was working on because it went no-where.

First I want to complete Dirty Tricks, since it only has like 3 chapters left and maybe get in a chapter of Love Song Unsong. After that gets down, I'll try to start this one back up.

A new chapter of White Christmas (even though its past Christmas -.-') (co written with me a Vivian, who's pen name is oOoshortayoOo . The story is on her account) might be up soon since I'm guessing it will be a short chapter (by our terms, lol) and we can get it done quicker.

I want to put this story on hiatus for awhile because after I get the other stuff out of the way, I won't be as stress to get it done. Being stressed makes meo shorter chapters of less quality and I'm trying to make this one as best as I can get it.

Thanks for all you people who reviewed! You have no idea how happy you've all made me!!!!

Well the link before didn't work so here it is (remove the spaces first or it won't work! .) :

homepage2. nifty. com/ suzukinobu/nejisaku. Htm

scroll down to see the picture!

Ah, yes. Neji and his smily face boxers. I don't know why I did that . . . I just thought that Neji was maybe the type to have lucky undies or something. XD


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